Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) is a medium-sized mottled brown owl with long wings, a pale facial disc, yellow eyes and very short ear tufts that are usually hidden. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits marshes, grasslands and other open country, hunting voles and other small mammals in buoyant low flight that often occurs during daylight or around dusk. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).